Art Focus Oklahoma Winter 2020

Important dialogs and discussions within the state of Oklahoma surround gender and age for all workforces. It is especially necessary to explore them in the fine arts workspaces. Visual artists identifying as women are showing in this exhibition with their art and voice to be seen and heard in ways that have not always been included in exhibitions for practiced self-identifying women. This shift is needed, relevant, and should illustrate how gender, femininity, and age are explored by the artists selected. The things they find to express are demonstrated through their visual art rather than always expressed by their person. Each artist selected will have one piece for sale on display at MAINSITE Contemporary Art in Norman in a variety of two-dimensional and three-dimensional fine art.

Featured artist, Jarica Walsh, said, “The idea for the show began as a discussion where older, women-identifying artists were expressing that they felt invisible, that they felt excluded from opportunities. Having Ginna and Erinn [curators] see that need and create the exhibition is excellent. I am a champion for artists

Michael Wilson, Sam, Bear, Jenna, mixed media

creating opportunities for themselves if they feel institutions and organizations aren’t offering what they need. It’s great to see more and more galleries making it a priority to create opportunities for underrepresented populations.”

Her art in the exhibition, By A Thread, is a response to emptiness, to feeling a void. The sculpture is bisque earthenware with thread. She describes it as “the bisque finish of the clay means that it still has a rawness to it, that it is vulnerable and exposed to the elements. There are a series of holes cut and punctured into the sculpture. These voids represent the pain that life can present, the vast emptiness that loss can leave behind. This is how recovery is, in my experience. Wounds begin to heal in small ways. The color starts to return to life, little by little. Time passes and the pain eases, but the loss never goes away. The thread is holding us together. Sometimes we are holding on by a thread.” Walsh was born in Pawhuska and is a proud member of the Osage Nation. She lives and works in Oklahoma City, maintaining a studio in the Paseo Arts District.

Alex Emmons, another featured artist, described the importance for this exhibition by saying “There are interesting trends for women across the country that are often met with adversity for speaking their minds. It [40 Over 40] is women identified; inclusion---it’s warranted. There is also a need for support for middle-aged artists.” Her piece selected for this exhibition, Sooner’s Pink Blanket, is a digital photograph displayed without glass so that the viewer can experience the velvety surface of the print. Emmons works with a range of photo media, from 19 th century photographic methods to current digital image-making. Her projects are inspired by memories, intuition, and personal history which she incorporates to connect with her audience.

A recent paper on gender disparities for artists was published in 2019 and showed “that of the permanent collections of eighteen prominent art museums in the United States that out of over 10,000 artists, 87% are male, and 85% are white (Diversity of Artists in Major U.S. Museums, CM Topaz, et al., March 20, 2019, Public

Library of Science). The Norman Arts Council states that this exhibition is created for women artists in Oklahoma over the age of forty to exemplify the “wealth of talent by experienced women artists across the State.” Many times, artists create their bodies of work as an extension and exploration of themselves and their identities. This exhibition will combat the gender disparities for women-identifying artists.

Mary Whitney’s jewelry piece selected for inclusion, She Couple, is about giving voice to women, encouraging women to stand tall, and to present their power with heads held high. Porcelain expresses the feminine quite rightly, in that it is both highly durable and soft to the touch. Each piece of the porcelain clay is fashioned and shaped into curves and spirals with individual identities. The knit elements bring forward traditions of women’s craft that sustained homes and families. She hopes her work generates an exchange of protection and confidence within circles of women. Mary Whitney is the studio administrator for RedHeat Ceramics, a local Tulsa ceramic studio and education facility.

Katy Nickell’s three-piece clay works will be shown for the exhibition. She uses hand-building, throwing and slip-casting for her body of work. For the flower covered series, she creates the base form from slabs or on the pottery wheel. She shapes each piece and applies each flower or petal individually by hand. A continuing theme in her work has been femininity and the use of flowers. Katy Nickell is currently working as a full-time artist and part-time private art teacher.

The opening reception for 40 Over 40: Women Artists of Oklahoma takes place from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, February 14th at MAINSITE as a part of the 2nd Friday Norman Art Walk. The exhibit will run until Friday, March 13th with a closing reception held from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. that evening.

Artists in the Exhibition

Natalie Baca Carol Beesley Tracey Bewley Julie Marks Blackstone Amanda Boehm-Garcia Elyse Bogart Deborah Burian Jydonne Bynum Jana Diedrich Ginna Dowling Alex Emmons Janene Evarde Carolyn Faseler Lauren Florence Erinn Gavaghan Almira Hill Grammer Susan Greer Polly Hammett Mary James Ketch Angie LaPaglia Darci Lenker Katherine Liontas-Warren Vicki Maenza Cedar Marie Beatriz Mayorca Erin Merryweather Susan Morrison-Dyke Katy Nickell Kate Rivers Claudia Robertson Liz Roth Barbara Scott Angelika Tietz Kristal Tomshany Audra Urquhart Debra Van Swearingen Jarica Walsh Mary Whitney Shevaun Williams Michael Wilson n

Top: Katy Nickell, Porcelain Flourish #1, clay Middle: Alex Emmons, Sooner’s Pink Blanket, digital photography Bottom: Lauren Florence, A Day at the Races, collage

Kristin Gentry is an artist, writer, and curator working in the areas of painting, printmaking, jewelry, and photography. She is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, and lives in Owasso, Oklahoma with her family. kristingentry.com.